Page 4 of Entwined

Chapter Two

Darby slept in fits and starts. He wasn’t much of a drinker and the vodka in his freezer that had been a Christmas gift from his BFF had gone mostly untouched for months. Downing half of it with his Kung Pao probably hadn’t been the wisest move.

I’m thinking at least fifty antacids might do the trick.

He thought about getting out of bed to grab some, but his liquor-induced haze started dragging him under again. Something rustled in the darkened room and he woke again with a start. His tongue was plastered to the roof of his mouth and he struggled to peel it away. Another rustling sounded from above him and he wondered if a wasp or bee had flown into his apartment.

That’s all I need to deal with in the middle of the night with a pounding headache. Bees.

His eyes fluttered open and his jaw dropped.

This can’t… There’s no way… Is that…?

Illuminated by the glow of his digital clock and the outside streetlights shining through the blinds, Darby could barely make out a figure. A figure that appeared to be a…

Fairy?

Darby choked on his own spit then managed to croak out, “Are you real?”

He stared up at the delectable creature hovering above him as he felt around for his glasses. As soon as he’d put them on and turned on the nightstand lamp, he squinted to make sure he was truly seeing what he was seeing.

Those can’t be wings. He narrowed his eyes some more. Right?

The young man laughed softly—a sound so beautiful that he ached to hear it again.

“Of course I’m real!” He smiled at Darby and cupped his cheek. “My name is Bram and I’m your omega. I’ve been searching for you everywhere. Why didn’t you coming looking for me beyond the veil?”

That’s it. No more alcohol before bedtime for me.

“I…er…” Darby frowned. “What?”

Bram covered his eyes with one hand then pointed to the lamp with the other. “Could you please turn that down, my alpha. It’s so blinding.”

Dreaming. That’s what this is. I don’t normally binge-drink, I’m under a lot of stress, I’ve been watching too many fantasy sagas and now I’m hallucinating. Darby considered the cute as fuck twink he’d imagined in his head, the one who’d touched him with such tenderness. I can run with this.

“Sure. Sorry.” He hated to turn the light all the way off—then he wouldn’t get to stare. He clicked the light to the lowest setting. “How’s this? Then I can still see you.”

Bram nodded. “Oh yes, much better. That’s not any brighter than a gathering of fireflies, so it won’t bother me at all.”

“Right…” Now what?

Darby sucked in a sharp breath as Bram flitted across the room then flitted back, his laughter as infectious as ever. Then he did an aerial flip and his wings caught the remnants of the to-go containers and they slammed against the wall with a splat.

“I’m sorry! Oh no, I made a horrible mess. I get so excited and cause trouble all the time.” Bram regarded him with clear worry, his brow creased and hands covering his mouth.

Aww. Poor thing. Darby hated that his hallucination was upset.

“Don’t worry about it.” He managed a gravelly chuckle. “This place is a disaster area anyway.” Darby cleared his throat. “So…why don’t you come back here? You know, tell me all about this alpha and omega thing.” He waved his hand in Bram’s direction. “I bet your, er, wings are tired.”

Damn. I really fell down a rabbit hole in my mind.

Bram broke into a wide grin. “Oh, thank you! I’ll put my wings away so they won’t cause any more problems.”

He lowered his feet then slowly descended to the floor as his wings retreated somewhere behind him. Darby swallowed hard when it occurred to him that all Bram wore was some sort of periwinkle blue filmy, sparkling loincloth. As Bram made his way across the short expanse of the apartment, Darby propped himself up against the pillows of the double bed, wincing as he adjusted his rapidly tenting pajama bottoms.

Bram clambered onto the bed with a smile, then scooted up until they were level to each other. He rolled onto his side, tucking his hands beneath his cheek and staring at Darby as if in awe.

I know how he feels. His reaction to Bram was identical.